“We know Lucas and his wife were slave traders. They owned a few servants themselves, but their business was brokerage. He would attend auctions over in what is now Jackson Square, buy men and women, hold them for some period and sell them for a profit. The sad but undeniable truth is they were property just like a horse or a mule, and often they were treated badly. I haven’t seen the third floor, but reports from the 1820s and 1830s tell of a holding area where these men and women were chained so they couldn’t escape. They were well fed — it made economic sense to keep them healthy — but they spent tragic weeks or months as prisoners of the LaPieres. They beat the ones who disobeyed, and stories abound of the screams for mercy coming from the building.
“One house servant who ran away in 1831 recounted tales of the atrocities and horrors, the times when Madam Prosperine went too far and the body of a man or woman was dumped in the river at night. If half the tales are true, it’s no wonder the place has a reputation for ghostly activity. Maybe Lucas was aware of the awful things his wife was doing and chose to ignore them. Or maybe he was afraid; by all accounts she was a domineering woman.”
“My God, I didn’t know that,” Landry said. “I did some research myself, but I didn’t find any of this. When you stroll through the French Quarter today, you can’t imagine the things that went on in its buildings over the past three centuries. I understand now why people say the building’s haunted, but what does it have to do with Tiffany and her inability to resist its calling?”
“Perhaps you can find out for yourself. You say she claims to have had a recurring dream since childhood. Are you familiar with age-regression therapy?”
“I’m not. What is it?”
“It’s a controversial issue, but it’s been used for years to take people back to a time in the past where a life event occurred that made a significant impact. People can repress traumatic or monumental things from their past — for instance, child abuse, death, or witnessing something horrible — but these things sometimes stay hidden in their minds as they grow older. They don’t understand what it is or why, but therapists who use age regression claim they can get to the root cause of issues.”
“How?”
“Through the use of hypnosis. They take a subject back in time, stopping at places along the way to get an idea of what’s happening in their life, and often they reveal the source of a problem. Dealing with it can stop things like recurring dreams, or so they claim.”
Landry nodded. “Sounds harmless. Someone would hypnotize Tiffany and take her on a walk through her past, right?”
“In theory, yes, but I have concerns about it. I believe there is much about the human mind we don’t understand, and many view hypnosis as a parlor trick or Vegas nightclub act where people parade around clucking like chickens. Putting a subject into a trance and manipulating his mind seems dangerous to me. Instances have occurred wherein the hypnotist had problems bringing his subject out of a trance. Not many, but enough to give a person pause. No one died or anything, but was there damage to the subject’s psyche? To my knowledge, there have been no studies about it.”
Landry said, “But are there physicians who do it as part of their practice? Psychiatrists, maybe? I’d be less reticent to mention it to Tiffany if a professional was doing the procedure.”
“Be careful, Landry. The woman tells you she has never been to Louisiana, yet she knows the building. That may not be true; I suspect there is some repressed connection that could be brought to the surface, but would the revelation be worth the potential risk? What if she or someone close to her was involved in a horrific act? Could tweaking her mind make things worse than the recurring dream itself?”
Henri made a valid point, but it would be Tiffany’s decision. Landry had found today’s discussion fascinating, and he hoped he might get to observe age regression in person.
As they departed, Henri asked a favor. “If the woman agrees to hypnosis, I’d like to attend the session. If that works for you, that is. As you can tell, the subject interests me. Observing a regression would be interesting.”
Landry promised to include Henri if things came together. It was almost four when he returned to the station. Jack was ready to talk, but Landry shushed him, saying he had something to do and they’d discuss everything later. As Jack watched, Landry searched online. He printed one article after another while Jack wondered about his sudden interest in hypnosis. An hour later, Landry stood, grabbed his backpack and told Jack to come along. They’d go to dinner, but first he wanted to talk to Cate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
As they walked to Landry's apartment, he briefed Jack on the boy who died in the courtyard, his own arrest for assault, and how Tiffany went home but once again fell into a trance that brought her back. "I flew to Albuquerque and picked her up," he said. "Cate's staying with her until we figure this out."
The girls were sitting on the couch, watching the local news and
